Berkeley Day Nursery | West Berkeley Family Practice

Berkeley, California

Designed in 1927 by Walter H. Ratcliff, Jr. as a day care facility, this well-loved Berkeley landmark has functioned as a community health care clinic since 1980. The recent project rehabilitated and structurally upgraded the historic building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and added a three-story clinic wing at the rear. Site and building access were upgraded to current standards. All of the work complied with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.

The facility includes exam rooms, mental health counseling areas, a pharmacy, health education rooms, and a demonstration kitchen for nutrition education. These were carefully programmed in order to minimize impact on the historic resource. Public spaces and other compatible uses are housed in the original building, while clinic spaces and laboratories that require modern mechanical systems are housed within the new addition. The new wing sits on the footprint of an earlier alteration and is substantially screened from the street by the historic building and mature trees. The historic Auditorium is used by the clinic during the day and is available for community meetings during the evenings.